Today, I covered a story about Sri Kurniawan and Dominic Massaro, two professor at the University of California Santa Cruz. The two are working together to create virtual talking heads that assist people with disabilities or speech problems in learning language skills. While Sri’s talking head will be used as a speech therapist for stroke victims in Malaysia, Massaro’s heads work with children who are deaf or autistic. Both heads use text-to-speech programs, whose lip and mouth movements mimic natural facial expressions.

It’s this kind of application of speech technology I love to read about — when scientists and developers get together to help solve a problem outside the contact center, and make a difference in other’s lives. On that note, here’s my Valentine’s card to our readers — science-themed, of course! Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.